In the Kids’ Rooms with Rebecca Peragine

This is our interview series where we bring you the nurseries and kid rooms of successful designers, entrepreneurs and moms. Through this series, our featured guests will divulge some of their design secrets and share stories of how their nurseries came to be.

Today we get cozy with Rebecca Peragine, creator and artist of Children Inspire Design and Fresh Words Market. Children Inspire Design is a line of modern, eco-friendly and culturally diverse artwork designed to help children learn compassion for our earth and all who inhabit it. Each piece incorporates re-purposed paper materials, soy inks and biodegradable packaging. Encompassing everything from prints to posters, wall cards and more, the line even offers a very special Global Compassion Posterof which 100% of the proceeds go to Future Fortified to help provide nutrients for children around the world.

Needless to say, Rebecca’s fresh and friendly taste carried into her sons’ shared room. Giovanni and Matteo, nine and six respectively, get to enjoy the bright colors, rustic textures and cool patterns their super fun mom chose for their room.

Rebecca, your products speak for themselves. Tell us about you!

I’m a mom, a wife, an artist and a social entrepreneur. I absolutely love creating artwork that makes people feel warm and light. I connect art with giving and use my work to help support women globally—mothers like myself and others who strive to offer hope and opportunity for their children’s future.

What was the idea behind creating this room?

I wanted to pay homage to our Midwest roots while incorporating a vintage West Coast feel. My children are very close with their grandparents, Wisconsin natives, whom they only see a few times a year. A focal point at our family cabin is a set of old moose antlers, so I started with the white moose resin mold I found on Etsy, and from there, I selected the pieces of furniture, which are all vintage finds found at resale shops, Goodwill or Craigslist.

Also, I wanted the space to reflect my children’s character and heritage. We have the West Coast/Midwest design, the maps of Italy and globes to represent their father’s family who all live in Italy and the Luchador artwork that I created to act as a salute to our past lives when we resided in Mexico for four years. Also, the guitars and drums represent their father and grandfather who are both established musicians, and the reading nook highlights Children Inspire Design’s USA Travel Map, so they can mark all the places we’ve visited in the states. In the end, the room really tells the story of who they are and where they come from.

I see a bunk bed and another full size bed. Is that for sleepovers?

We actually have two rooms we use for a shared bedroom space. The boys like sharing a room, but the spaces are relatively small. We kept the bunk bed and study space in one room, and the second bed and reading nook in the other. They sleep together in one and use the other as a chill out space. I love the fact that they want to be close to each other, so I try to make their space as inviting as possible.

What did you enjoy most about the design process?

Finding used treasures. I’m big on restoring old pieces and finding alternative uses for materials, so when you give me a challenge like this, it’s fun for me to step outside my day-to-day life of running a business and creating art to be able to focus on crafting a living space.

Do you know of a fantastic nursery or big kid’s room designed by a successful designer or business owner? Please send a photo of the room to [email protected] for consideration.

Adrienne LaRocque, an Event Planner in Los Angeles, is passionate about creating a memorable experience when entertaining. She started Eventful Adrienne in 2013, where she offers "Parties with Personality!"